One World Religion - Only One Path
Luke 24:5-6
“Why are you looking for the living among the dead? ” asked the men. “He is not here, but he has risen!"
It began with Zechariah, who doubted the angel’s promises. Zechariah loved God, no doubt about that, and his family business was that of being a priest. Knowing, praying, and serving God his entire life, he and his family. And always hopefully listening for his voice. Zechariah represents the faithful remnant swimming upstream in a culture that has become lost in a worldly drift outside the riverbanks of faithfulness and truth. After more than 400 years since the people last heard a word from God through the prophet Malachi, the collective mindset of the people has become a great loss of hope. Even the most devout are wearied in their doubts that God is with his people still. In the past they created idols for themselves when God seemed silent, and now the people are preoccupied with the persecution of their conquerors, and the secularized priesthood that seems to only serve themselves and their silent God. Taxation, unfair trade practices and illegal forced labor. Unkind public policies meant to discourage the masses and to keep them from developing a spirit of resistance. Property rights are trampled upon, and the lawlessness among the masses is creating a deep desperation for a Savior. Disparity between the wealthy and the poor has become a serious problem for most. Most are poor and getting poorer, while a few have become rich at the expense of the poor. All this division and faithlessness is eroding hope.
Everyone was out for themselves.
And then there was the faithful remnant. Few they were, and they were getting more and more discouraged every day. Hope that ‘this day’ would be different was their guiding force. Surely God would speak to His people today was the threadbare hope they were clinging to.
And it was from within this situation that Zechariah had drawn the coveted lot to serve in the holiest portion of the Temple. He pours out his heart to God the Father from within the silent holy of holies. And then, after performing his duties, as he's about to exit, the silence is broken, the angel Gabriel appears.
And he was afraid.
And God's messenger tells him that he and Elizabeth his wife, will give birth to a boy to be named John who “even before his birth …will be filled with the Holy Spirit “(Luke 1:15).
And Zechariah (soon to be father of John the Baptist) doubted the angelic report, and its source. Now he's the silent one.
Fast forward...
And the story ends with the disciples at the tomb, praising God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They had doubted the reports. Some demanded evidence. Others ran to see for themselves. And some, out of great love, come looking for the wrong answers.
The Angel reports:
“Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here, but he has risen!"
What happened?
What is the significance of this empty tomb, and what is the significance of the disciple's reaction?
One Apostle's answer:
“One act of righteousness” has led “to justification and life for all men” (Romans 5:18).
Well, that's true and a great theological statement. But wherein lies the true triumph in this story? Can this knowledge alone overcome the doubts?
As I see it, the Messiah Jesus Christ, sent from God, defeated the sin of Adam’s disobedience by His own perfect obedience. And his resurrection from the dead affirms that victory. But that justification didn't stop his followers, for all the wrong reasons, from running to his empty tomb looking for answers to their doubts. The temple priests, for all the wrong reasons, sent Roman soldiers to investigate the tomb, and they began to devise their own lies and misinformation campaigns. The justification didn't change the people. In fact, they hid themselves away from it. The religious leaders went about their business as usual. The devil had his religion, and he was busy practicing it. Nothing was changed among men.
But for all the right reasons God did what needed to be done in the way that it needed to be done. Turns out he wasn't silent after-all.
The disciples saw the empty tomb, they saw the risen Christ, they received the Holy Spirit, and they believed without doubting God's presence ever again. Oh, they had their confusions about this thing or that, but as for the truth of the resurrection, zero doubts. So confident were they that they took that word to the streets.
Acts 2:23-24
"This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
Peter preached about the Son of God risen from the grave, the presence and person of God having returned from the grave, and he preached that all Hope and Faith is restored in Jesus Christ. Jesus had raised from the dead and they were all witnesses to this truth. But most critical in the substance of this eyewitness testimony is the fact that Jesus is "both Lord and Messiah” (v.36).
Not a prophet alone, not a mere lifeless idol, He is everything. Nothing more is needed. And so, his resurrection is not only our hope in this moment, but a timeless calling to people far and wide. He is more than a prophet. He more than a great spiritual leader. He is more than our social justice example. He is no longer living among the dead and therefore we should not be looking for him among the dead. He is risen. He has risen first. And his followers will follow him in that resurrection when they are born again.
In Jesus the veil has been torn between man and God. And resurrection from the dead is only found in Him.
No priest can accomplish that for you.
No sacramental order can accomplish that for you.
No purgatory work-out can get it done for you.
No shines filled with the carved images of saints holds that redemption power with them.
No created living thing holds the redemptive life-force needed to overcome sin and death. You cannot conjure up a brew that will resurrect life.
No sacred art or consecrated artifacts can raise your spirit from the dead.
A lifetime of pilgrimage and spirituality is the means by which, those who have looked into the empty tomb and went away still looking for hope among the dead, continue to find some semblance of solace in a dark world. They pray to the dead. They give alms to the dead. They conjure up prayers to the dead. And the dead have no answers for them. All they hear is their own voice. All they see is their own image. All they receive is their own reward. All their hope comes from within themselves only.
Only through the acceptance of that message from the messenger of God at the empty tomb can they discover where to go to find rebirth. Only where the risen Lord is, can they find him. Only from where he is, will he save them. No other path gets them there. Their path must begin at the empty tomb.
(v.40) “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Repent for the forgiveness of your sin.
Receive the Holy Spirit.
Be baptized.
And devote yourself to Jesus' teachings.
“Why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” Acts 1:11
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